# Self review: Requiem



## Requiem

I really enjoy spending time at this forum, as you do and understand. 

What better then a thread where I record and share my road as a pipe smoker? One thing I miss on this pipe-forums experience is a place where I can find the map (personal page) drawn by the experiences of those like Dubinthedam, Mr. Moo, and several others.
A place similar to a sit next to that guy, on the porch, pub or living room. Plus, pictures of his stuff... His tobacco reviews, as he goes along... What is he going to buy next... which has become is favorite pipe...
So, I hope to see you guys doing this kind of page, as you have much more to offer than I do.
By the meanwhile, welcome to a review of this smoker, his pipes, tobacco's and stuff, by himself.


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## Requiem

I'm only smoking the pipe since last Fall. My first cigarette was at age 13, and I'm now 33. At a semi-conscient level I always wanted to get into the pipe. (must remember to drop the cigs, although only in a couple of years I fear)

Currently, I own 8 pipes.
My first buy was a Hilson straight apple and a pouch of MacBaren Mixture. Two or three days after I bought a little Big Ben billiard and a Hilson rodhesian. A few weeks after, a little Hilson sitter and a Big Ben bent dublin. A Peterson Donegal Rocky billiard was next.
By then, I was still buying locally, so I think I did pretty well, although I can now get, on-line, better pipes for the same price. 
Online, I bought two Savinelli (a 320 and a 628 ). This month I'll get a churchwarden, then a poker.

However, it´s the tobacco that fascinates me. I prefer latakia, although virginias are growing on me lately, maybe since the weather's getting better. I´m still to find if I also enjoy Vapers that much... add one tin of Irish Oak, and a couple tins of SG St. James Flakes.

Tobacco is not easy to find locally, nor cheap (a Peterson tin costs €22).
On-line, from England or Germany, it costs half the price, while pipes cost less 30%, at least. Before buying online, St. Bruno was my favorite, but when I tried Old Dublin I eagerly wanted to get into english blends...
Thanks to the information gathered at this forum and at a few other places, I´m glad to have already enjoyed some of the best blends available, and having so many more available is a thrilling thing about this hobby.

Over the last few weeks, I've been on a daily gourmet diet of Old Gowrie, Squadron Leader and Erinmore Balkan Mixture, usually by that same order unless some other blend is ocasionally thrown in.

Now, I must choose the churchwarden and see what blends I can get at the site I'll buy it from. I truly hope to, as time goes by, build a nice collection and enjoy smoke it for many years.


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## Requiem

My 8 pipes are divided in 3 groups.
4 of them are dedicated to english blends, 2 to Virginias and the other 2 to Vapers.
As I'm smoking more virginias now, I need to get a couple new pipes I can dedicate to that type of blends.

It appears that, even being a recent pipe smoker, I´m beginning to establish some personal preferences about what kind of pipe goes with a certain type of blend.
Latakias are getting the bigger bowl pipes, as that is my favourite type of tobacco and I enjoy long smokes of it.
Virginias and Vapers take the smaller bowls, some narrow (for the flakes) some wider. I´ve also read somewhere that Virginias tend to shine more in the final 1/3 of the bowl, so smaller bowls are a good option.
Also, thick walls are recommended, as those tobaccos tend to burn hotter. Long stems can also help with that, the experts say.

That´s the main reason I´m looking for a churchwarden and a poker, both destined to VA blends. It also happens I really like the look of those shapes...
The churchwarden is most probably going to be a Stanwell HCA, as I could well use the double-stem versatility, while the poker will be a Boswell, ordered as a celebrational pipe of another forum.

Besides the size of the bowl and stem, or the thickness of the walls, another thing I think about when dedicating a pipe to a certain kind of blend is related with my usual activity while smoking a type of tobacco.
For instance, I smoke virginias most of the mornings, by late-breakfast. A poker would be very welcome as, while reading the newspaper, zipping coffee and taking a bite at the toast, I can use a sitter. My little Hilson sitter (picture bellow) has been getting a lot of use on those moments and needs a friend.










Getting two new pipes will also allow me to move one of the others to start experimenting with aromatics. Although I prefer natural tobaccos I now realize how important it is to have a few options with a nice room note... I will get back to this in a future post.


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## DubintheDam

I had a shit day today in town, everything was sold out or not ready...so I had french fries and bought a heap of tobacco....feeling much better now!


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## Requiem

If today's events lead to a down mood after dinner, I can only advice you to have a nice whiskey and light one of your favorite pipes. However, if you're already in a good spirit, just have a nice whiskey and light one of your favorite pipes...

Friday's nights always have been considered very misterious and some supersticious folks swear that only a pipe can prevent strange things to happen. 
I better go get a pipe now :bolt:


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## Requiem

I'm really MAD right now.

After dinner, went to buy some groceries, beer, meat and stuff like that.
After shopping, went to my office just to take care of a couple things and get some files for the weekend... when I left the office, my car was locked inside the garage. Some fu#&ing new employee must have locked the main gate after midnight, so I had to call my wife (who was already sleeping) to get me... most of the groceries will be ruined by tomorrow, as will the ears of the guy who locked my car in, that´s for sure.

See what I meant about friday's nights (and there's a full moon up there too)... I was stupid enough to leave home without smoking the pipe... lesson learned. :crash:


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## Requiem

I fit into a portuguese tradicional saying which states: "He can boil on low water" (do other countries have the same saying?) which means: he can get irritated quite easily, (though I'm very cool at most occasions)... 
However, those are quick bad-temper explosions and a pipe is the perfect thing to cool it down.

A fact of life seems to be the increase of speed on how quickly life goes buy. Being english a second language to me, I'll give a common example: When we where kids, time seemed to run very slowly... we all wanted to grow up fast, so that we could have girls, drive cars, and smoke... that seemed like centurys through, comparing to how fast time passes by, while being an adult.

The magic of the pipe is related to that, in my opinion.

The pipe, like a couple of other special hobbys I keep (I collect and love comic books/graphic novels) has the power to slow down Time. When you light a pipe (at perfect conditions), you often get into a calmer, relaxed, slower environment, a safe realm where you can concentrate, relax, enjoy...

Nevertheless, I'm still going to shout at whoever locked my car in, last night.

------smoking-------

Made a pause on writing this post to have another bowl of EBM, this time in a Peterson p-lip. (Will do a post about the p-lip, in the future.)
My first EBM bowl of the night, right after the previous post, was in my Savinelli Tundra 628 rusticated (the couple is depicted bellow).










Erinmore Balkan Mixture is a very well balanced, medium-light, latakia/orientals mixture. It is smoky, creamy, the spiciest among others I've tried in the range. 
Just for the record, on the English side, I´ve tried at least a tin of:
Old Dublin; Squadron Leader; Presbyterian Mixture (just a few bowls, given by a friend - any latakia on this???); Red Rapparee; Black Mallory; Commontwealth; Erinmore Balkan Mix., roughly by that order.
Given those terms of comparision, I think EBM is something in beetween Black Mallory and Squadron Leader, although in another completly sub-category (not quite much help, right...?)
It is much spicy-hotter, rounder, sweeter than SL, but not as earthy and without the latakia smokie feel of Black Mallory.
I'm still to try the Dunhill blends, which I will do soon, but some say EBM is similar to Dunhill's EMP.

All in all, it's a surprise to me that this blend is not very well known (according to tobaccoreviews, at least) as I dare to advice even the most experienced smoker to give it a try.


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## SmokinJohnny

The Erinmore Balkan Mixture looks right up my alley from your description. A good Balkan mix eases my temper to a point nothing matters. I will have to try a tin wih my next order. Haven't yet met a Balkan blend I didn't like.


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## Zeabed

Requiem said:


> [.....] The pipe [.....] has the power to slow down Time. When you light a pipe (at perfect conditions), you often get into a calmer, relaxed, slower environment, a safe realm where you can concentrate, relax, enjoy...


Don't worry about English being your second language, my friend, your penchant for literary expression comes through intact. You have described what all of us pipesmokers feel when we say, for lack of a more descriptive phrase, that we're "in The Zone" when the pipe and the blend are just right. Like all the very best things in life, pipesmoking has the power to make men happy and relaxed within the brief compass of the time that we can dedicate to them. I'm glad to meet another Presbyterian Mixture smoker, by the way. :first:


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## Doctor Humo

Hi Requiem,
I remember reading somewhere that you would like to trade tobaccos as the do in the states but being in Portugal was quite difficult. Since I'm in Madrid may be we can start trading samples of tobacco.
this is what I usually smoke, and I have at home:
Paul Olsen MOB Balkan (my favourite)
Dunhill 965
Dunhill standard mixture mellow
mac baren hh vintage Syrian
mac baren original choice
mac baren mixture flakes
SG FVF
SG fire dance
SG St. james flake
Davidoff scotish mixture

Also you can see in this link what is sold in the tobacco shops in Spain, may be you don't have there same stuff there so if there are differences may be I can send you anything you are interested in, and If you have some tobaccos that we don't have in span may be you can send me some.

http://www.cmtabacos.es/wwwcmt/paginas/ES/mercadoPrecios.tmpl

select "peninsula y baleares"
and then "picadura de pipa"
then click in consultar precios.

Saludos 
JL


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## Requiem

Holla JL,

Your kindness makes me very happy. 
It would be great to trade some samples with you. Right now, I have at home the following tobaccos:
Squadron Leader;
Erinmore Balkan Mixture;
Black Mallory;
Commonwealth Mixture;
Old Gowrie;
Best Brown Flake;
Virginia nº1;
St. James Flake;
St. Bruno ready rubbed;

I don´t think portuguese stores sell anything you can´t get in Spain, but please feel free to ask me for details. 

Another great thing are the tobacco prices in Spain, as stated in that site ... I never though the prices to be so low. In Portugal prices are about 4 times more, and even in England and Germany, from where I usually buy, prices are about twice as expensive.
Would it be possible for you to provide me the internet adress from a spanish online tobacco seller? Or the phone number from any spanish dealer that could send me those tobaccos?

Again, thank you so much. Muito obrigado.

Gustavo


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## Doctor Humo

As today I think there are no spanish internet tobacco stores. The prices you saw are set by the ministry and the stores will add an extra to sale them so I guess the prices most be alike.
Here is a link where you can find all the stores in spain, give them a call.

Guia de Shops 1/ BPC

pipafumador:el_pipafumador_viajero [Club Amigos de la Pipa de Madrid]

I ussually buy my tobacco in madrid from ayala 102, I guess they are the ones who have the most.

pipafumador:madrid-castellano [Club Amigos de la Pipa de Madrid]

JL


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## Requiem

Would you like me to send you some samples? Maybe some Erinmore Balkan Mixture? (which I didn´t see for sale in that link)
Anything else? Squadron Leader, Black Mallory, Old Gowrie, Best Brown Flake, Commonwealth...?

I would like to try Paul Olsen MOB Balkan, Dunhill 965, and Macbaren hh vintage Syrian.

You still can´t have acess to private messages, so e-mail me to:

requiem76(at)gmail.com


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## Doctor Humo

Ei Requiem,
Eu gosto de experimentar: Erinmore Balkan Mixture, Black Mallory, Old Gowrie, Best Brown Flake, e da Commonwealth. Eu vou para o envio de amostras do que você pedir.
Lhe enviou um e-mail para o endereço que você enviou-me com o meu endereço e respostas com o seu.

My father is from Galicia, and my galician is not the best and since the languajes are a like I tried my best.
Now in english just if a didnt made my self clear.

I would like to try: Erinmore Balkan Mixture, Black Mallory, Old Gowrie, Best Brown Flake, and Commonwealth. I'll send you the samples that you asked for.
I'll send you an e-mail with my adress and you can replay with the adress where you want me to send the samples.
Also I wanted to ask you, can you get Drum cigarette tobaco with latakia in Portugal? is the red pouch??.
I want some but in Spain we only have the regular blue one.
Drum World Blends Latakia Cigarette Tobacco 50g Pouch - drumwblat

Kind Regards.
JL


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## Requiem

Hola JL, 

your portuguese is almost perfect.
I´m still waiting for your adress. I plan to send the samples tomorrow (friday) so you should received them monday or tuesday. Is about 3 medium bowls of each tobacco enough?

I don´t know about Drum tobacco (red pouch) , but I´ll look for it and let you know. 

your friend
Gustavo


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## Doctor Humo

Email sent check your inbox


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## Requiem

not received...

please, check if the adress is correct, or post your own e-mail.


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## Doctor Humo

Sorry I messed up the adress. I sent it again.


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## Requiem

Back to my pipe journal:

Since the nice weather is back, I've been smoking outdoors more often. Ironically, since I picked up the pipe, by October 2008, my poor wife had to tolerate many latakia bowls but now, that I smoke more on the open air, virginias are my main choise. She already asked why don´t I smoke the "not so smelly tobaccos" all the time...

(sunday morning smoke - Old Gowrie in a small Big Ben billiard)









Clearly, I find latakias great for the colder days but, under the sun, virginias are much more appealing, and latakias get relegated to late in night.
Smoking outdoors, no matter what the temperature is, also have a big impact on how the tobacco tastes. Unless there is no wind at all, or just a moderate breeze, it´s much more difficult to taste all the nuances of whatever I'm smoking. I´m currently trying to figure out which blends are my favorite under those conditions, and which I'll reserve for indoor smoking only.

Outdoors/indoors also affects the pipe choise. So far (unless there's no wind) I think taller pipes are best suited for smoking outside. My Peterson billiard with the P-lip, which I never fully enjoyed when sitting at the couch, is a favorite when sitting outside the coffee shop, while the exact opposite occurs with my Savinelli 320.

Like almost everything else related to pipe smoking, this conclusions or impressions are purely subjective and very prone to change at any time. That´s precisely one of the wonderfull things about this hobby and, I guess, one of the main arguments to classify it as an art. One's interpretation of the instrument (the pipe) and melody (the baccy) is constantly changing as the pipester walks the path. Even the most experienced smoker will probably discover something new every time he lights a pipe, which may very well implie he'll never stop being in love with this misterious, mistfull habit.


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## Zeabed

Requiem said:


> Back to my pipe journal:
> 
> Since the nice weather is back, I've been smoking outdoors more often. Ironically, since I picked up the pipe, by October 2008, my poor wife had to tolerate many latakia bowls but now, that I smoke more on the open air, virginias are my main choise. She already asked why don´t I smoke the "not so smelly tobaccos" all the time...


Requiem, I feel your pain; I like latakia and perique as condiments in tobacco blends. My lady friend (I'm too old to call them 'girl friends' any more) has the same reaction as your wife. I tell her that one person's _mau cheiro_ is another's heavenly aroma. At least for me, living in Florida, I could smoke outside all through the winter, which is also the dry season here. But now the weather has changed, on both counts, as it is getting hot and humid and the rains are coming. So I've gotta think of something quick.


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## Requiem

Ei, "_mau cheiro"_...?! You speak portuguese?


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## Zeabed

Requiem said:


> Ei, "_mau cheiro"_...?! You speak portuguese?


Sorry, Requiem, but either I don't have PM privileges yet, or o meu velho cerebro nao understands how to do it. So I'll have to temporarily hijack your thread to answer your question.

Ainda falou um bocandinho, mais ou menos, com o zutaque fechado do Porto. Morei la dois anos, 1979-1981. Foi vice consul dos Estados Unidos no Porto. Gostei immenso. I also visited Lisboa, the Minho, Aveiro, muitas freguesias, etc. One of my favorite places were those:clap2: marisqueiras in Matosinhos. Nao vou-me alembrar, because then I begin to salivate. Tive uma paixao por o bacalhau com natas! Also, I still have the complete works of Luis Vaz de Camoes and Eca de Queiroz (sorry, there's no cedilha on my keyboard) here at home. Ainda tenho muitas saudades de Portugal. The eeriest thing, Requiem, is that according to one genealogical version of my ancestry, my last name originated in Guimaraes! When I was in Porto I did not know this, but I visited G. many times and 'felt very much at home' there, if you know what I mean... E verdade! Unfortunately, they closed down the U.S. Consulate in Porto around 1990. Not my fault, though. That was years after I left...
Muito prazer em conhecelo. Well, that's enough of torturing the beautiful Portuguese language. Ah, "Amor e fogo..." That guy was a genius.
Ed


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## Cigary

Being Portuguese myself ( Dad was full blooded and mom was Heinz 57 ) I was around Dads family quite a bit and always heard a lot of their sayings. I finally was able to visit Portugal awhile back,,amazing country and I will return. You have a really good thread going here and like the pipe you have,,,I used to smoke pipes quite a bit and want to return to that in the near future. My problem as to why I gave it up was that I developed TMJ and it was hard trying to hold the pipe without clenching. That was 15 years ago and will try again soon as soon as I get another pipe.


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## Zeabed

Thank you for your PM, Requiem. And thank you also Mr. Moo. I won't be able to post PMs until my first month is over, from what I understand. I'll send one to each of you guys then.


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## Requiem

I really enjoy smoking and am well aware I´m deeply addicted. 
Probably, my health is already suffering from 20 years of cigarettes, and smoking will, most likely, kill me unless something else does first...
The very first thing I do right after getting up from bed is to light a cig (or two), and smoking is also the last action of my day.
I smoke at home, office and car. Only go to restaurants, pubs, clubs or coffee houses which are smoke friendly.

(late afternoon, after a stressfull day. Peterson billiard/Squadron Leader)









Dinner parties are common at my place, not only because I have lots of fun while cooking but also because most of my friends houses are balcony smoking only places. However, in special occasions at some friend's home he/she says "Go ahead and lite the pipe, I like pipe tobacco smell"... Oh boy, I guess he/she had never smell a non-aromatic before.
Reactions usually go from "hhmm, pfff, nice... (false answer)" to "man, that smells like burning tyres".

Because I only smoke non-aromatics, I also feel a little shy about lighting the pipe at a crowded restaurant or pub, as I'm affraid it will disturb others. 
Nowadays, pipe smoking isn´t as popular as it was 40, 60 or 100 years ago, so I think every pipester has (kind of) the responsability to be an ambassador of this generically not well known art. 
One can achieve that not only through his social public behavior, by being a true gentleman, but mainly by proportioning others a pleasant first impression, which mainly comes from a pleasant room note.

That said, I need to find one or two aromatic blends suitable for my taste and with a nice room note.
Requirements are: available at europe (no US brands) medium (or medium-light) strenght; as natural as possible tobacco flavor; pleasant room note;

I´m waiting a sample of SG Fire Dance Flake, and my next order will include SG Kendal Cream Flake.
What blends do you suggest I should try?


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## Requiem

Getting into aromatics, even if only ocasionally, means I'll have to dedicate some pipes to those blends. Owning just a few pipes, it means I'll need to buy more...
Top of the list, right now, is a Stanwell HCA churchwarden, but that will be reserved to virginias (or vapers).
Probably, the wiser deal I can make, regarding pipes for aros, is to buy a meershaum. With one of those to smoke at home and one briar to smoke outside I should be fine.

However, if lately I've learned a lot about briar pipes, I know almost nothing about meershaums. 
-What are the best brands?
-What are the best price/quality ones?
-Are there any advantages/disadvantages on the latice cut?
-What should I look for, when buying a meer?
-What about the "it won't colour nice if touched by the hands" stuff? Not being a clencher (I suffer from bruxism - grind my teeth during sleep -will write about that later) should I get a glove to handle the meershaum pipe?

Browsing my favorite online shops I found two nice lines, both showing pipes costing around €70:

This is from TML:









This is from a line produced by a german pipe shop:








described as followed:

_A hand made meerschaum pipe in top quality. Made in Turkey from best blockmeerschaum. The stem is made from amberoid and has a fishtail bit.
The pipe comes in a suitable case. 
We use only best natural blocks of meerschaum for the carving of our perfect pipes. Our pipes are not a product of a " mass - production". Each of your orders shall be custom carved by our "professional craftmans". Due to the craftsman's style there might be slight differences between these "hand-carwed artwork pipes".
Sometimes, the "fossil own" stains, spots or foreign materials like sand are found in natural meerschaum stones. These things appear during the carving. This is not a disadvantage, but reverse, it is a sign, that the material is the real natural meerschaum._

Hmm, lots of research to do, I guess. Me likes that.


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## Doctor Humo

Hi Gustavo,
Did you received my emails??
I sent the package wensday, any news?
I received your samples last week, I haven't been able to try them, that's why i hadent posted any coments.
I hope to read your notes on what I sent, ande the extra goodies.


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## Requiem

I´m going to Spain for a few days, just to relax and, hopefully, get my hands on a few Dunhill tins... although I think Nightcap is not available all the rest is. 
Paul Olsen MOB Balkan is also on my to buy list and... the list of tobaccos sold in Spain includes a certain Balcan Sobranie... is this the famous one or a copy (with a C replacing the K)?

ps- yes, it´s a fake, so I don´t think it's worth a try.


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## Doctor Humo

Requiem said:


> I´m going to Spain for a few days, just to relax and, hopefully, get my hands on a few Dunhill tins... although I think Nightcap is not available all the rest is.
> Paul Olsen MOB Balkan is also on my to buy list and... the list of tobaccos sold in Spain includes a certain Balcan Sobranie... is this the famous one or a copy (with a C replacing the K)?
> 
> ps- yes, it´s a fake, so I don´t think it's worth a try.


My friend Requiem,
I don't know if balcan sobranie it's a fake or not because even though it's on the list I haven't found it in any spanish store. I guess i'ts a glitch in the list.
I buy my tobacco from a store in Madrid that is said to be the sore that most pipe tobaco sells in Spain and they haven't seen any sobranie for a while now. Where in Spain are you going to spend your days?
Maybe I can recomend a couple of stores.


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## Requiem

Hello Doctor,
I´m at A Coruña right now. Arrived today by mid-afternoon, after stoping at a nice tobacco shop at Tui (a border town). I'll stay here until Saturday or Sunday, not sure yet. 
I´ve been sending you e-mails, with my thoughts about the tobaccos I already tried from your generous samples, but probably you didn't received them...
At Tui I bought:

5 Dunhill Standard Mixture 50g. tins
5 Dunhill Early Morning Pipe 50g. tins
1 Peterson Sherlock Holmes 50g. tin
1 Capstan Mild Navy Cut 50g. tin
1 Paul Olsen MOB Balkan 100g. tin

All new tobaccos to me, except the MOB Balkan I had already tried from your samples, for the total price of € 77 :drum: Couldn´t be happier.

The lady who owns the shop was really busy, taking care of a dozen portuguese customers who were there (I bet more then 100 portuguese went there today), as the 10th of June is national holliday as well as the 11th. I'll be calling her soon, or will pass by when I travel back home, to find out if she can become my main tobacco dealer... half the price from England or Germany! 
Already tried a bowl of Standard Mixture and loved it. Tomorrow will find out about EMP.

Next week I'll post some photos of my smokes at beautifull A Coruña.


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## Doctor Humo

Hey!
I don't know what's wrong with my gmail acount.
Here are a couple of recomendations in Galicia, I don't know any thing at A Couruña but:
VIGO
Estanco .Expendeduría 1.(C/ Príncipe, nº 17) Preguntar por Juan. Están funcionando desde 1.873. Aunque es pequeñito está bien surtido en tabacos de pipa y puros.
PONTEVEDRA TUY
Estanco Joaquina Lourdes Estevez Piño ( Av. Portugal, 27 36700 - Tui, Pontevedra ) Posee una soberbia cava de puros climatizada, con un gran surtido.
La dueña conoce bastante de pipas y puede pasarse horas enseñandotelas, tiene
Savinelli, Peterson,Stanwell, Dunhill y por supuesto una gran variedad de
tabacos de pipa.
Por estar a pocos metros de la frontera con Valença, Portugal una gran parte
de sus clientes son de ese país, ya que el tabaco es sensiblemente más caro
allí.
I guess this is where you ended up.
enjoy!!!!!!!


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## Requiem

*Trip to Galicia (part 1)*

Me and the wife were really needing to take a few days off of routine and relax. The Spanish border is just 3 hours away from our hometown, and to A Coruña it´s another 2 hours. Having only 5 days to spend, it seemed like a perfect destination, plus... I could grab myself some baccy!

I already knew what pipe tobaccos were available at Spain (including Dunhill's) and where to buy them. Even so, I decided not to take any risk and packed a tin each of Squadron Leader, Black Mallory and Best Brown Flake, along with my four favorite pipes (3 dedicated to english blends, 1 to VA's).

The tobacco store I was looking for is located right on the border, in a town named Tui. Great place for cigar smokers (I guess) and very fine for pipers. There were available all the tobacco´s from Peterson, most of MacBaren, and some Dunhill's (EMP, MM 965, Standard Mixture Medium, Standard Mixture Mild, and Aromatic). Royal Yacht was sold out, while Nightcap and Navy Rolls aren´t sold at Spain, I think. Some other brands like Capstan, W.O. Larsen and most of the stuff that comes in pouches were also for sold. Samuel Gawith's tobaccos were not sold at the shop, although the owner told me they are getting them in a few weeks. The shop was crowded, almost exclusively with portuguese people looking to buy their stuff for cheap.
I ended up getting 5 tins of Early Morning Pipe, 5 of Standard Mixture, 1 Sherlock Holmes, 1 Capstan Mild Navy Cut Flakes, and 1 Paul Olsen MOB Balkan (100g.). In Portugal I wouldn´t be able to get any of it except for the Sherlock Holmes (which would cost me €22), while buying it all online (from Germany or Denmark) would cost around €140 to €150 plus shipping... total cost at Spain... €77.
Thanks to our friend Doctor Humo, who send me some samples, I passed without buying My Mixture 965, as I didn´t like it very much... I'm not a fan of cavendish in english blends.

at Riazor beach









Happy with my score, we headed towards A Coruña where we would stay at Hotel Riazor, very well located between Riazor Beach and the old town center, 10 minutes walk away from every touristic point.
A Coruña is much more cosmopolit then what I was expecting and it was a little hard to step out of the city's rythm and relax... 4 to 5 bowls a day did help, though. I always carried 2 pipes everywhere, and was very happy to almost smoke no cigs... just a few before breakfast and a few more while in the hotel room, before sleep.

at Plaza de Maria Pita









to be continued ...


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## Requiem

*Trip to Galicia (part 2)*
A Coruña is a cosmopolite city surrounded by sea and with lots of beautifull early 20th century buildings. _"No one is a foreigner at A Coruña"_ is the city's motem, undoubtly inheridted from it's tradition as one of the most important european harbours... in fact people are quite friendly there; I'll never forget how nice a taxi driver named Paco was, who offered us many tips , a city map and a touristic guide, on our first night there while we where totally lost. Offering him a few extra euros was an insult to him and I just wish I could enjoy his company at a dinner or something... really a great guy (I suspect him to be a BOTL, heheh).

after a very nice meal









After spending three nights there we headed back south, stopping at Santiago de Compostela, a gorgeous medieval town, famous for it's cathedral and a major pilgrimage place, where the remains of St. James are held. I'm not a religious guy but I recognize that these holly places you can find all over europe really have a special atmosphere... Santiago de Compostela is a very quiet place, inviting you to reflexion and contemplation. Although there are many tourists, it is a perfect place to relax, so we decided to spend an extra night there... if visiting Galicia again, Santiago will be the place to stay, for sure.

at Plaza del Obradoiro - Santiago's cathedral









While in Spain I kept smoking Dunhill's Standard Mixture and Early Morning Pipe, to evaluate how much I like them.
My preferences on pipe tobacco can be divided in three categories: balkan, straight english, and straight virginias... 
EMP is a delicious balkan blend. Not as spicy as Erinmore Balkan Mixture (one of my favorites) and not as tangy as Squadron Leader (another favorite). A 5 stars balkan, although not superior to those other... 
Standard Mixture Medium is... well, it's standard and medium! A perfect all day smoke english blend. Not overwhelming in latakia, with an excellent virginia base, perfect for a afternoon smoke (maybe too bland for a late night english smoke, though). 
Glad to smoke those Dunhill's blends, a second visit to the store at Tui was a priority, so... I stopped there again, on my way back home, and bought another 5 tins of EMP and 5 more of Standard Mixture. 
Until the end of the year I plan to go back there and buy, at least, 100 tins of various blends (a little over €500). One trip per year would be enough to keep my cellar growing while saving an equal amount of money comparing to what I would spend from buying all that baccy from England or Germany... just the budget I need for a few new pipes :dance:

my baccy from Spain


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## Requiem

PAD & TAD month

Oh yeah, I'm currently choosing the american tobaccos I'll be getting from my trip to the US, in August. I'm going to place a online order from one american dealer, in the next few days, so that I'll have over 2lb.s of tobacco waiting for me when I get there... when that order is placed, I'll do another post.
Also waiting my arrival at the US will be my Boswell ****** poker pipe, which was shipped today. I'm really anxious to puff on that baby, which I'll probably dedicate to virginias, as stated in previous posts.

Not satisfied with that, today I ordered a new pipe and a few tins from a british online shop.










It's a Stanwell Hans Christian Andersen VI sandblasted, which is also going to virginias use. It was really hard to decide which HCA to pick, as I also like model I very much... bu this model VI is quite different from my other pipes, with a solid danish look which convinced me to choose it. I fancy the slightly curved stem, too... hope it turns out to be a fine smoker.

The requested tins are as following (all 50g.):
3x SG Best Brown Flake
1x SG Full Virginia Flake
1x SG 1792 Flake
1x SG Kendall Cream Flake
1x Rattrays Marlin Flake
1x Erinmore Balkan Mixture

One got to keep is small cellar growing, right? There are some dark clouds over the horizon, not too far away...

(I also bought some churchwarden size cleaners and a little snuff tin - those 8 hours in the airplane, without smoking, are giving me the chills)


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## Requiem

The order I placed last week, from the UK, is yet to arrive (I expect it tuesday).
During the weekend I've spent a lot of time browsing through tobaccoreviews and american online dealers... it's amazing the quantity of pipes for sale, at nice prices, in pipesandcigars and smokingpipes. 

Also, friday I busted my Hilson apple while cleaning it... passing a cleaner through the stem I applied too much strenght and a piece on the bit got brocken. I'll try to glue it back together but right now I'm down to 3 pipes for english blends... way too low for my needs, so...

I think I'll be forced to get a couple of new pipes in the US... a Bjarne and a Brebbia are the ones catching my eye and at least 3 MM corncobs are also coming my way. I'll place my order monday or tuesday, for the pipes and the following tins (all 50g.):

2x GLP Westminster
3x GLP Union Square
1x McCl Frog Morton
1x McCl Frog Morton on the Pond
1x McCl Frog Morton on the Town
1x McCl Virginia nº 22
1x McCl Virginia nº 24
1x McCl Virginia nº 27
1x C&D Junkyard Dawg

also, will get another tin of Westminster and one of Abingdon from a trade with a fellow piper.


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## Requiem

Alright, order placed (and availability checked, previously) with smokingpipes.com, although I'll get my hands on it only at the beginning of August.
Union Square was not available, which is a pitty as I really was looking forward to try it... I replaced it with a Solani Silver Label 100g. tin... (I had just seen dmkerr and sounds7 praising it... and if those guys say it's very good it must really be).
Smokingpipes had no MM cobs either, but I guess I can find those easily while in the US.
The two pipes I just ordered are these:

Brebbia Sabbiata Nera bent billiard









Stanwell Golden Danish 113









I think this two are bigger then any of my other pipes, which is most welcome for that after dinner smoke. After this buy, and already counting with the Boswell poker, my collection gets up to 12 briar, and the cellar will exceed 5.5lb.s.... July as been harsh on my credit card, but very sweet on the PAD&TAD medicine.
Not big, but very long, here's a pic of me smoking the Stanwell HCA, right after it's arrival this morning:


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## Doctor Humo

Hey Gustavo I can't PM yet so I sent you a email.


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## dmkerr

Requiem said:


> I replaced it with a Solani Silver Label 100g. tin... (I had just seen dmkerr and sounds7 praising it... and if those guys say it's very good it must really be)


Oh man - nothing like pressure! 

Interestingly, the Silver Flake, along with Reiners Long Golden Flake (or #71, whatever they wanna call it) are rapidly becoming my "all day" smoke. I put "all day" in quotations because of course I'm not going to smoke the same stuff all day. But I do plan to move them from tins to my tobacco bar (reasonably airtight jars) and dip into them almost daily... when I can't tolerate another heavy blend or something new at the end of the day, these two blends will calm me down. Really good stuff. Not overly exciting, just very relaxing.


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## SmokinJohnny

Gustavo, how does your new HCA smoke? Otherwise, it's a sharp looking pipe.


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## Zeabed

dmkerr said:


> Oh man - nothing like pressure!
> 
> Interestingly, the Silver Flake, along with Reiners Long Golden Flake (or #71, whatever they wanna call it) are rapidly becoming my "all day" smoke. I put "all day" in quotations because of course I'm not going to smoke the same stuff all day. But I do plan to move them from tins to my tobacco bar (reasonably airtight jars) and dip into them almost daily... when I can't tolerate another heavy blend or something new at the end of the day, these two blends will calm me down. Really good stuff. Not overly exciting, just very relaxing.


Mister Moo also recommended Reiner LGF to me, and I now have a couple of tins on order, hopefully on their way to me right now. It's reputedly made with excellent leaf ingredients and blended by one of the most highly regarded German blenders. I'm glad you like it too. I look forward to trying it.


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## dmkerr

Zeabed said:


> Mister Moo also recommended Reiner LGF to me, and I now have a couple of tins on order, hopefully on their way to me right now. It's reputedly made with excellent leaf ingredients and blended by one of the most highly regarded German blenders. I'm glad you like it too. I look forward to trying it.


If you don't like it, I'll be happy to take it off your hands, heh heh :heh:

If you do, you should also try the Solani Silver Flake. Then again, there are thousands of blends we all should try but haven't yet. I've had a tin of 1792 and Chocolate Flake for almost a year and haven't cracked 'em. They always seem to get bumped by something else....


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## Requiem

The HCA smokes VERY hot in the bottom... I mean, light it up, take 4 or 5 puffs and it's hot... maybe because of the dublin shape, I don´t know. The pipe is very light and my impression is that light pipes smoke hotter. I'll break it in very paciently, smoking as many 1/4 bowls as it takes to build a nice bottom cake... I was planning to dedicate it to virginias but if it proves not to handle the fire I'll move it to orientals and expect the Stanwell canadian to handle virginias better.
On the other hand, the churchwarden stem seems to soften the tobaccos a little... I mean, it makes me want to inhale often.


Getting the Solani Silver flakes was really a pressure decision, while I was on the phone with the guy from smokingpipes, right after he told me Union Square was sold out... I do well under pression, usually.


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## SmokinJohnny

Gustavo, thanks for that.


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## Requiem

You're most welcome, Johnny.

Are you planning to buy a HCA?
I must also say the stems are not perfect. The long one bends a little to the right, while the larger part of the shorter stem (you know, that fat part close to the shank) is not perfectly aligned with the bit.

However, I'm not unhappy with it... So far it smokes smooth and dry, although hot. The draft hole seems perfect. I'll need a few more weeks to properly evaluate it.


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## SmokinJohnny

Requiem said:


> You're most welcome, Johnny.
> 
> Are you planning to buy a HCA?
> I must also say the stems are not perfect. The long one bends a little to the right, while the larger part of the shorter stem (you know, that fat part close to the shank) is not perfectly aligned with the bit.
> 
> However, I'm not unhappy with it... So far it smokes smooth and dry, although hot. The draft hole seems perfect. I'll need a few more weeks to properly evaluate it.


Yes, I've been looking at the HCA and Savinelli Prince of Whales. The PoW has a pot bowl and maybe absorbs heat better but I like the looks of the HCA better. Maybe the HCA with the calabash looking bowl would be a better choice for heat sink. I don't know. It's a bit more expensive which is a tough call since I plan to smoke it only occasionally. I agree, it's better to judge a pipe after a couple weeks of breaking in and getting accustom to a proper draw. Thanks for posting your experience so far. That's quite a pipe and tobacco collection you're building there.

My wife tells me she might try the pipe if I buy a churchwarden. Fasion statement seems to come first with her.


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## Hendu3270

I've been on the forums for awhile now and for some reason have never visited this tread. Great job Gustavo. This was an interesting thread to read through. I'll definitely be checking back in to see what's going on with you. Blog on!!


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## Requiem

Thanks, Chris.

Next weekend I will cross the ocean to visit the US. In Fall River I'll go to "The Old Firehouse", the local B&M. If I have the chance, "LJ Perreti" is the place to go in Boston, I ear.
What about in Manhattan? Any pipe shop worth a visit?
I´m not planning to buy much, as I already have 3 pipes waiting for me and more tobacco then what I'm allowed to re-enter in europe with... however, I want to get 5 or 6 MM cobs and one pipe reamer... maybe another pipe if I catch a really good deal, or maybe a Dr. Grabow (just for being a classic).

Meanwhile, here's a pic of me and my wife at last weekend's picnic. Gorgeous, isn´t she?









About the HCA: after about 8 1/3 bowls, yesterday I had a 2/3 bowl of BBF... still extremely hot. I guess it can´t really handle virginias. 
Also, I found a old thread from Club Stoggie where a fellow member was having the same problem.
http://www.cigarforums.net/forums/vb/general-pipe-forum/58764-stanwell-hans-christian-anderson.html
Beware, people interested in buying one... I just hope it handles english/balkans better.


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## Requiem

*Trip to the USA* (part 1)

Our visit started by landing at Boston's airport and there towards Fall River (a one hour ride).
Fall River, where my wife's relatives live, is a little city on the decline. Unemployment is on the rise, as the clothing industries were shut down or moved away. The city is now full of abandoned big buildings and weeds grow on the sidewalks... Fortunately, all this bacy (except for the Artisan's Blend) and three classy pipes where waiting to welcome me.











So far, I only had three of this: Northwoods, Frog Morton on the Town, and Virginia nº 22, because I already had too many tins popped at Portugal and don't want my tobaccos to get bone dry. Still, I can't make a review on those blends yet, as I smoked mainly outdoors and not very often during the trip.
However, I think I already can roughly evaluate the new pipes, ... 

This Boswell free-hand poker smokes great. Perfect drilling, while the ultra-thick walls make it as cool as one would expect it, and the bowl is very deep... most probably this pipe will be a favourite for virginia flakes.











The Stanwell Golden Danish canadian is not as big as I thought it would be, but I'm in love with it. The walls are quite thin, which means it takes a considerable amount of tobacco to fill it up, yet it smokes extremely cool even if puffed fast. I find it beautifull and it provides a dry and smooth smoke. Perfect drilling. I'm sure this will be one of my best pipes once it gets fully broken. The plan is to dedicate it to virginias.











This Brebbia's bent billiard's draft hole his drilled too high on the bowl. It is impossible to smoke the last portion of tobacco although it smokes cool and dry. It will probably go to english/balkans use. I know I could have sent it back, but staying only for two weeks and with lots of places to visit I simply didn´t want to bother with it. 











Two days after our arrival, we went on a five days visit to New York City. Nice hotel, two blocks away from Times Square, great meals at nice restaurants, bus tours all around Manhattan, and lots of interesting shows to watch and places to visit. What a city! I was a London fan before, but now if I get in the mood for a big city there's none other than NY. The tops of our visit: Central Park; Journey through the Stars (a virtual reality show at the Natural History Museum-Rose Center); Mamma Mia (yes the musical... the wife loved it and I enjoyed it very much too - gladly, we didn't watch the movie before); lunch at Carmine's (43th St. W) and the overall organization level on the Big Apple... impressive.
Bottom: Chinatown (not worth the time, IMO).








..










Many miles walked per day and the local rush are not very compatible with pipe smoking and I lighted up only once, at Bryant Park by night.
Indoor smoking is strictly forbidden (except in smoke shops) but I found no outdoors smoking restrictions at all. 
Being on a tight kind of schedule, visits to smoke shops were not many but I managed to walk into De La Concha (on Av. of the Americas I believe, near Central Park) which had a nice selection of baccy and medium to high grade pipes, all on inflated NY prices.
Also passed by a strange looking cigar shop, on Downtown, but no pipe stuff there. 
New York, I'll surely be back!

Stay tunned for part 2...


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## rrb

Mais um Tuga por estas bandas. Tropecei aqui e tenho que dizer que estou a achar este teu post deveras interessante. Bom trabalho ( ou devo dizer prazer?). Cumprimentos.


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## jcats

Thank you for sharing.


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## Zeabed

Congratulations! I hope the "Spoils from Egypt" made it alright back to Portugal! Great record of all the fun you had in your visit. Thanks for posting these great photographs.

P.S., I didn't know you married a beauty queen, _seu maroto_. :first:


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## turtlelax23

Requiem said:


> I fit into a portuguese tradicional saying which states: "He can boil on low water" (do other countries have the same saying?) which means: he can get irritated quite easily, (though I'm very cool at most occasions)...
> However, those are quick bad-temper explosions and a pipe is the perfect thing to cool it down.
> 
> A fact of life seems to be the increase of speed on how quickly life goes buy. Being english a second language to me, I'll give a common example: When we where kids, time seemed to run very slowly... we all wanted to grow up fast, so that we could have girls, drive cars, and smoke... that seemed like centurys through, comparing to how fast time passes by, while being an adult.
> 
> The magic of the pipe is related to that, in my opinion.
> 
> The pipe, like a couple of other special hobbys I keep (I collect and love comic books/graphic novels) has the power to slow down Time. When you light a pipe (at perfect conditions), you often get into a calmer, relaxed, slower environment, a safe realm where you can concentrate, relax, enjoy...
> 
> Nevertheless, I'm still going to shout at whoever locked my car in, last night.
> 
> ------smoking-------
> 
> Made a pause on writing this post to have another bowl of EBM, this time in a Peterson p-lip. (Will do a post about the p-lip, in the future.)
> My first EBM bowl of the night, right after the previous post, was in my Savinelli Tundra 628 rusticated (the couple is depicted bellow).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Erinmore Balkan Mixture is a very well balanced, medium-light, latakia/orientals mixture. It is smoky, creamy, the spiciest among others I've tried in the range.
> Just for the record, on the English side, I´ve tried at least a tin of:
> Old Dublin; Squadron Leader; Presbyterian Mixture (just a few bowls, given by a friend - any latakia on this???); Red Rapparee; Black Mallory; Commontwealth; Erinmore Balkan Mix., roughly by that order.
> Given those terms of comparision, I think EBM is something in beetween Black Mallory and Squadron Leader, although in another completly sub-category (not quite much help, right...?)
> It is much spicy-hotter, rounder, sweeter than SL, but not as earthy and without the latakia smokie feel of Black Mallory.
> I'm still to try the Dunhill blends, which I will do soon, but some say EBM is similar to Dunhill's EMP.
> 
> All in all, it's a surprise to me that this blend is not very well known (according to tobaccoreviews, at least) as I dare to advice even the most experienced smoker to give it a try.


I love this pipe. Very nice look.
I am also quickly becoming addicted to your post in this thread. I wish I could light up a bowl as I am reading it but I am either at work (can't smoke at work) or home (can't smoke in the apartment)...:dunno:


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## Requiem

Thank you all for your comments.

*Trip to the USA (part 2)*

Back from N.Y. we still had about a week to enjoy. We were blessed by the generosity and kindness of our american friends who drove us everywhere we went... from and to the airport, to and from N.Y., everywhere!
On that second week we had the chance to visit the stylish beach of Newport with its impressive mansions (in size and number), the colourfull Province Town and Boston.










Boston is beautifull and pleasing, with lots of open spaces and interesting places to visit. It looks like a fine city to live in.
About tobacco and pipe smoking, in Boston I didn´t go to LJ Peretti (though I was very close from it, at some point) but during that second week I smoked very often, mostly by night in the porch (much better then smoking at a tall building's balcony).
In Fall River I went to "The Old Firehouse smokeshop" where I had my only indoors puffs... very nice store, good people to have a chat with, nice tobaccos and pipes selection (also cigars, in a walk in hummidor) . I stayed in there for 2 hours and bought a Peterson 2009 St. Patrick's day billiard (fishtail) and a tin of Artisan's Blend.
Also walked in a smoke shop in Newport, but bought nothing there (no GLP's tobaccos, just McC, MacB, and Peterson's).










What I ended up not finding was a tin of Union Square and the 5 cobs I was looking for... Cobs where sold out on every Walgreen and Walmart I looked into. Thankfully, just before leaving, my wife found a couple of them in a Rite Aid shop.

All in all, we had the most amazing trip and returned very impressed by the people and the country.


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## Hendu3270

I wonder why all the cobs were sold out of most of the stores you tried. That seems odd. Once I started with smoking pipes, anytime I need to make a run into my local Walgreens I end up glancing over at that section behind the counter and it's always full. Must be alot of "cobbers" up that way. LOL

And sounds like you had a good time in Boston. That's great.


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## commonsenseman

Wow tis a shame this thread didn't get more hits!


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## Jack Straw

Great Thread!


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## Requiem

Thanks, guys.
I'll do some updates next week.


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## Requiem

*Don't give up on that pipe!*

While our pipe collections grow in numbers, and most probably in price average, some first buys tend to be relegated to the drawer and to a very ocasional smoke.
This little Big Ben billiard was the 2nd pipe I ever bought, right the day after my 1st one. I started by smoking MacB's Scottish Mixture in it, then Virginia nº1, St. Bruno, St. James Flake, a few other virginias, University Flake and a small sample of Fire Dance. It always whistled like a referee, got hot like a cofee pot and sometimes it really seemed like cofee was gurgling inside and trying to come out through the stem... When I reached the dozen pipes, the poor Big Ben was left alone for a long time.










However, I take pleasure in not giving up and was planning to try some aromatics in it, although I suspected it would smoke even hotter and wetter with aros... but not buying any aromatics didn´t help on getting that experience going :noidea:
1792 Flake was the closest to an aromatic I had in the cellar and I was very curious about it and the tonquin flavour which everybody thought to be a love or hate thing. Conscious 1792 would seriously ghost a briar, the first bowls of it were in a corncob (and those were also my first cob smokes).










I liked it very much. I've said it before and in several places, but I can't avoid to repeat it here: odd enough, 1792 tastes to me like I remember old ladies smelling when I was a kid... that's bizarre! I wonder if tonquin was used in old fashioned perfumes? 
"-Now, I need a dedicated briar for 1792. Let's see, what can I use for it... oh, the damn little Big Ben. Yeah, why not?!"
*puff, puff, puff*
Surprise, surprise! The pipe was smoking cool as an autumn breeze, dry as the Sahara and it even looks like the referee lost his whistle!!! It's an amazing perfect match... After not being smoked for months, the little Big Ben billiard is now in my lips about twice a week, shining in all his glory and giving me great satisfaction.
So, don´t give up on that sad pipe you hardly smoke any more... somewhere, there must be a perfect blend for it.

(my camera's batteries died and I don´t have any more at home, thus the abscence of the happy couple's shot)


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## Jack Straw

Nice how that works out. That's a handsome pipe, too.


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